Comdata Macro's

it's been a very long tome since i had used a qualcomm, but the macros are basically "canned messages". what this means is, instead of a driver (or even dispatch) freely type in messages, a macro will do the same thing, but use less "characters (letters or numbers). this cuts down the cost of the qualcomm. back in "my day" i was told each character (including the spaces between words) cost 25¢ (again, back then).

so if one was to add up ALL the characters that a driver typed up, the cost could be quite high. so macros are cheaper and this is what the companies want you to use.

i do not have any macro list, but generally speaking,

number 1 might mean, "arrived"

number 2 might mean, "left shipper"


and so on and so forth.

now comdata, back in my day, was how i got paid when i ran long haul (OTR). i would call the bank and give them some numbers my company gave me, comdata would then give me some numbers, then i'd go tothe fuel desk and cash my check. back then, comdata kept a "fee" from my money, about $2.00 back then. sometimes the truck stops charged me a fee as well to cash my paycheck..

thank God we have direct deposits and ATM cards nowadays.....!!!!

 

Just to add to Rerun: I believe also that each individual company has their own "canned messages". So there aren't really any standard messages. I have noticed from company to company that the messages are all similar but not exact. Plus the order of procedure is different for each company.

Not sure if this is what you mean.

 

yes, the "canned messages" can differ from one place to another. if i am not mistaken, any new driver gets a company handbook, with this information. sometimes when the information is {upgraded} the company includes that in any paper work they get back.